The Hymn of the Soul Contained in the Syriac Acts of St. Thomas

TEXTS AND STUDIES

CONTEIBUTIONS TO

BIBLICAL AND PATRISTIC LITERATURE

EDITED. BY

J. ARM IT AGE ROBINSON D.D.

HON. PH.D. OoTTINGEN HON. D.D. HALLE
NORRISIAN PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY

VOL. V

No. 3. THE HYMN OF THE SOUL.

AT

CAMBRIDGE
THE UNIVERSITY
1897

PRESS

aontion: C. J. CLAY and SONS,
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY TRESS WAREHOUSE,
AVE MARIA LANE.
QKIaSBota: 263, ARGYLE STREET.

ILeipjig: F. A. BROCKHAUS.
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THE HYMN OF THE SOUL

CONTAINED IN

THE SYEIAC ACTS OF ST THOMAS

/

1j

RE-EDITED
WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION

BY

ANTHONY ASHLEY BE VAN M.A

FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE
LORD ALMONER'S READER IN ARABIC

CAMBRIDGE
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1897

[All Eights reserved]

Man horet oft im fernen Wald
Von obenher ein dumpfes Lftuten,
Doch niemand weiss, von wann es hallt,
Und kaum die Sage kann es deuten.
Von der verlornen Kirche soil
Der Klang ertonen mit den Winden ;
Einst war der Pfad von Wallern voll,
Nun weiss ihn keiner mehr zu finden.

Ludwig Uhland.

PEEFACE.

The Poem which forms the subject of this monograph was
first published and translated by the late William Wright, Pro-
fessor of Arabic in the University of Cambridge, in his Apocryphal
Acts of the Apostles (2 vols. London, 1871). Since then the Syriac
text has been re-edited in the third volume of the Acta Martyrum
et Sanctorum (Paris, 1892), and two German translations, with
copious explanatory remarks, have appeared — that of Karl Macke
in the Theologische Quartalschrift (Tubingen) for 1874, pp. 3 —
70, and that of Lipsius in his work Die apokryphen Apostel-
geschichten unci Apostellegenden vol. i. (Brunswick, 1883) pp.
292—300, vol. ii. pt. ii. (1884) p. 422.

As Prof. Wright's book has for several years been out of
print, it seemed all the more desirable to re-publish the poem
in a convenient form. If the piece were an integral part of the
Apocryphal Acts, there might be some objection to thus detach-
ing it from the context in which it stands ; but, as a matter of
fact, it is an independent composition and may therefore be treated
separately. When we consider its antiquity and its highly ori-
ginal character, it must appear extraordinary that it should
hitherto have attracted so little attention among theologians ; if I
succeed in exciting any further interest in this master-piece of
religious poetry, the main object of my work will have been
attained. At the same time I venture to hope that I have been
able to contribute something fresh towards the elucidation of the
text, in particular towards the comprehension of the metre, which
is necessarily of great importance in textual criticism. Since the
first editor, Prof. Wright, is universally acknowledged to have
been one of the highest authorities in the department of Syriac
literature, it may seem presumptuous, in a pupil of his, to think
of supplementing, or modifying, the conclusions at which he
arrived. I may therefore be allowed to state explicitly that the

vi

PREFACE.

cases in which my interpretation differs from Prof. Wright's are
few indeed as compared with those in which I have found his
guidance invaluable. The first translator of so singular a docu-
ment, however learned and however careful he may be, can
scarcely hope to produce a perfect version, and Prof. Wright, as
may be seen from his notes, was far from making such a claim.
If I have ventured to explain some passages in a different
manner, this has been chiefly in consequence of the fact that I
was able to avail myself of various suggestions offered by other
scholars who, during the last twenty-six years, have made a
special study of the text. The most important of these contribu-
tions are due to Prof. Noldeke ; some of them appeared in his
review of Prof. Wright's book (Zeitschrift der deutschen morgen-
lilndischen Gesellschaft for 1871, pp. 670 — 679), others he privately
communicated to Lipsius, in whose work (mentioned above) they
are cited, others again I have received from him directly, either
by word of mouth or in writing, together with his permission to
publish them. For this great kindness I beg here to offer him
my sincerest thanks. At the same time I desire to express my
gratitude to the Editor of this Series, Prof. J. Armitage Robinson,
for several suggestions which I have gladly adopted.

In order to insure the accuracy of the text I have, of course,
examined for myself the MS in the British Museum. The only
mistake worth mentioning which I have been able to detect in
Prof. Wright's edition, occurs in verse 71a; here Prof. Wright's
conjecture is really the reading of the MS.

It need hardly be said that in the Introduction I have not
attempted to give anything like a systematic analysis of the poet's
theology, but have confined myself to indicating some of its more
important features. The character of my work being mainly
philological, I must leave the task of historical exposition to
be completed by persons who possess a very much wider know-
ledge of the science of comparative religion.

A. A. BEVAN.

Trinity College,
Nov. 1897.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Introduction 1

Text and Translation 9

Notes 32

INTRODUCTION

The text here edited is based upon a single manuscript, Brit.
Mus. Add. 14645, bearing the date A. Gr. 1247 (= a.d. 936) and
containing a collection of Lives of Saints. For a full description,
see Wright's Catalogue of tJie Syriac Manuscripts in the British
Museum, No. dcccclii (pp. 1111 — 1116). Foremost in the col-
lection are placed the Acts of St Thomas, or, as the Syriac heading
calls them, " The Acts of Judas Thomas the Apostle," which
occupy 49 leaves. The Poem begins on fol. 30 b, and is introduced
in the following manner. The Apostle, we are told, in the course
of his journeys through India, was arrested and cast into prison by
order of a king named Mazdai. In the prison he offers up a
prayer, at the conclusion of which we read — " And whilst he ivas
praying, all those who were in the prison saw that he was praying
and begged of him to pray for them too. And when lie had prayed
and sat down, Judas began to chant this hymn. The Hymn of
Jvdas Thomas the Apostle in the country of the Indians!' Here
follows the Poem, with the subscription — " The Hymn of Judas
Tliomas the Apostle, which he spake in tJie prison, is ended!' But
the Poem itself contains not the remotest allusion to the circum-
stances described in the preceding narrative, nor is there anything
in the remainder of the narrative to indicate that the narrator
was acquainted with the Poem. The question therefore arises,
Was the Poem composed by the author of the Acts or was it
derived from some other source ?

This is not the place to discuss the origin and history of the
Acts of St Thomas, for which the reader may refer to Lipsius,
Die apohryphen ApostelgescJiichten und Apostellegenden vol. i.
pp. 225 — 347, vol. ii. pt. ii. pp. 423 — 425, and to Harnack, Die
H. H, s. 1

2

INTRODUCTION.

Chronologie der altchristlichen Litteratvr bis Eusebius vol. i.
(Leipsic, 1897) pp. 545 — 549. Here it is enough to say that
these Acts are extant both in Syriac and in Greek1, but it is still
disputed in which language they were originally composed. In
the Greek Acts of St Thomas the Poem with which we are con-
cerned is absent, nor is any trace of it to be found in the Berlin
MS of the Syriac text (Sachau Collection, No. 222) — see the Acta
Martyrum et Sanctorum vol. iii. (Paris, 1892) p. 110 note2. Hence
the controversy as to the original language of the Acts does not
in any way affect the Poem, for even those who believe the Acts
to have been first composed in Greek admit that the Poem is not
a translation but a purely Syriac work. This, as Noldeke pointed
out in 1871, is evident from the style and, in particular, from the
metrical character of the piece. In these respects it differs greatly
from the other hymns and prayers which the Acts contain. Both
external and internal evidence therefore lead us to the conclusion
that the Poem was borrowed from some extraneous source and
inserted — at what period we cannot say — into the Acts. Happily
it is not of any great importance to decide how it found its way
into this context ; the question which interests us is how it
originated. We are here entirely dependent on internal evi-
dence ; for, as every Syriac scholar must see at once that the piece
is much older than the 10th century, the date affixed to the MS
tells us nothing which we might not have safely assumed.

The considerations of which we have to take account, in con-
ducting this inquiry, may be briefly summed up as follows.
Obscure as many passages undoubtedly are, the general drift of
the Poem is quite clear, and cannot be better described than in the
words of Noldeke — "We have here an ancient Gnostic hymn
relating to the Soul, which is sent from its heavenly home to the
earth3, and there forgets both its origin and its mission until it is

1 Edited by Max Bonnet, Acta Thomae (Leipsic, 1883).

2 My friend Mr F. C. Burkitt informs rne that after a very careful search he
was unable to discover any part of the Poem among the fragments of the Syriac
Acts of St Thomas in the Library of the Convent on Mount Sinai.

s The choice of "Egypt" as the type of this world, the abode of evil and
particularly of " slavery" (couplet 44), is no doubt ultimately based upon the Old
Testament. Noldeke points out that a similar metaphorical use of "Egypt" is

INTRODUCTION.

o

aroused by a revelation from on high ; thereupon it performs the
task assigned to it and returns to the upper regions, where it
is reunited to the heavenly robe, its ideal counterpart, and enters
the presence of the highest celestial Powers." But if the general
Gnostic character of the Poem seems evident, the precise nature of
the Gnosticism, the date and the authorship are by no means
so easy to determine. The difficulty of answering these questions
is due mainly to the extreme meagreness of our information
respecting the history of Syriac literature at the period when
Gnosticism flourished, namely from the 2nd century to the begin-
ning of the 4th. Though there is clear proof that Gnosticism
exercised a powerful influence in Syria at that time, not only have
the writings of the Syrian Gnostics almost entirely perished —
which was merely what we might have expected — but the writings
of their orthodox opponents have, with few and small exceptions,
perished likewise. The ages of Justin Martyr, of Irenaeus, and of
Origen are practically a blank in Syriac literature ; the oldest
Syriac writer of whom we possess any considerable remains is
Aphraates, in the first half of the 4th century1. Thus the problem
before us is one which does not admit of anything like a final solu-
tion. Yet there are not wanting indications which, though uncer-
tain if considered separately, may enable us at least to form a
plausible hypothesis.

Of the Gnostic sects which existed in the Syriac-speaking
lands by far the most important were the Bardesanists and the
Manichaeans2. These two schools had, it is true, some features in

ascribed to the Naasseni and the Peratae — see Hippolytus, The Refutation of All
Heresies Bk. v. chaps. 2 and 11.

1 In the discussions which have lately taken place respecting the origin of the
Peshltta version, this important fact seems to me to have been too frequently over-
looked. Where scarcely any evidence exists, it is futile to bring forward "argu-
ments from silence."

2 On Bardesanes, see Merx, Bardesanes von Edessa (Halle, 1863) and Hort, Art.
" Bardaisan" in the Dictionary of Christian Biography vol. i. (1877). Perhaps the
best general account of Manichaeism is that by Spiegel in his Erdnischc Altertlmms-
Inmde vol. ii. (Leipsic, 1873) pp. 195—232 ; Kessler's Mani (Berlin, 1889) con-
tains much valuable material on the subject, but should be used with great caution
— sec the review by Noldeke in the Zeitschrift der dentschen morgenliindischen
Gesellschaft for 1889, pp. 535 — 549, and the note in the same periodical for 1890,
p. 399.

1—2

4

INTRODUCTION.

common, for which reason Ephraim Syrus speaks of Bardesanes as
"the teacher of Man!"1; but they nevertheless differed profoundly,
and, if we may trust the testimony of the Arabic writer An-Nadim,
the founder of Manichaeism himself published refutations of the
Bardesanists2. It is therefore natural, in the case of a Gnostic
document composed in Syriac, to begin by inquiring whether
it can, with any probability, be ascribed to either of these sects.

That this Poem is not a Manichaean product hardly needs to
be stated. The most prominent idea in it, namely that the Soul
is "sent" from heaven to earth in order to perform a divine
mission, is quite contrary to the principles of Manichaeism ; for
according to the Manichaean view the conjunction of the soul with
the body is the result of a "mixture" of the elements of Light and
of Darkness, which took place before the world was fashioned3.

Of the religious teaching of Bardesanes (a.d. 154 — 222) very
little can be known with certainty. His writings have all been
lost, and the celebrated Dialogue on Fate4 (or " the Book of the
Laws of the Countries"), which was composed by his disciple
Philip5, is mainly devoted to proving the theory of human free-
will, to the almost total exclusion of religion properly so called.
So scanty is the evidence on this subject that in recent years some
have even doubted whether Bardesanes can rightly be described
as a Gnostic6. But though we have no trustworthy account of his

1 tA-L-^3.l cn_si Ocb » S. Ephraemi Syri Opera

selecta, ed. Overbeck (Oxford, 1865) p. 63.

2 G. Fliigel, Mani (Leipsic, 1862) pp. 73, 102, where Main's "refutation of the
Daisanites (i.e. Bardesanists) on the subject of the Soul of Life" is mentioned.

3 It may however be worth while to point out that the passage in which the
victory of the soul over the power of evil is symbolised by the prince "charming "
the serpent to sleep (couplets 58, 59) bears a curious resemblance to the Manichaean
myth described by Titus of Bostra (ed. De Lagarde, Bk. i. chap. 17) — Qeaaa/j.4vr) yap
7) v\t] rr\v airo araKeiaav dtivafiiv, TrpoffeKiffffTjire /mev ws ipaodtiaa, bpfifj d£ ir\dovi \aj3ov<ra
ravTTjv KariTne /cat iSedi) rpbirov Tiva (aairep Qr\plov. Kexpyvrat yap Kal rw5e rtj; u7ro-
dtiy/mari, ws 5t' eiryS^s ttJs dn-ooTaXet'o'Tjs Bwafiecos eKOifiiffdr]. Instead of " the Hyle,''
the parallel passage in the Fihiist of An-Nadim (G. Fliigel, Mani pp. 54, 87) has
"the Primal Devil," which is doubtless a more faithful representation of the
Manichaean idea.

4 Edited by Cureton in his Spicilegium Sijriacum (London, 1855).

5 See Wright, A Short History of Syriac Literature (London, 1894) p. 30.

B See F. Nau, Une Biographic inedite de Bardesane VAstrologue (Paris, 1897).

INTRODUCTION.

5

theological system us a whole, it is impossible to deny, first, that
he was regarded by the orthodox as a daugerous heretic, and,
secondly, that some at least of the heresies ascribed to him are
such as other Gnostics arc known to have taught. Thus our prin-
cipal authority on the question, Ephraim Syrus1, who lived about a
century and a half after Bardesancs, writes — "The woe which our
Lord uttered came upon Bardaisan, who taught that there arc
Seven Essences (ithye), and whom the iron of truth cut off and left
to himself"2. These last words imply that Bardesancs was, if not
formally excommunicated by the ecclesiastical authorities, at least
considered as one outside the pale of the orthodox Church.
Ephraim 's accusations against Bardcsanes fall under three prin-
cipal heads — (1) that he denied the resurrection and regarded the
separation of the soul from the body as a blessing3, (2) that
he held the theory of a divine "Mother" who in conjunction with
" the Father of Life " gave birth to a being called " the Son of the
Living"4, (3) that he believed in a number of lesser "gods," that
is to say, eternal beings subordinate to the supreme God5.

Now it is remarkable that these three " heresies " all appear
distinctly in the Poem before us. There can be no doubt that the
Egyptian garb, which the prince puts on as a disguise and casts
away as soon as his mission is accomplished, represents the human
body. The emphatic declaration that the "filthy and unclean
garb" is "left in their country" conveys an unmistakable meaning;
it would be difficult, in an allegorical piece, to deny a material
resurrection more absolutely. The true clothing of the soul,
according to the poet, is the ideal form which it left behind in
heaven and will reassume after death. As for the Father of Life,

1 To the usual references in the writings of Ephraim add Comm. in Epp. Pauli
(on the apocryphal Third Epistle to the Corinthians), Armenian version, Venice
183(3, translated into Latin by the Mechitarists, Venice 1893; a translation of this
section, by Prof. Hiibschmaun, is given in Zahn's Geachichte des itetttetthnnentlichen
Kanons, 18'JO, vol. ii. pp. 5(J5 seq.

- S. Ephraemi Syri Opera omnia (Roman ed.) vol. ii. p. 550.

3 This is the accusation most frequently and most vehemently urged — see
S. Ephraemi Syri Canniiui Nisibeita, ed. Bickell (Leipsic, 1866), hymns xlvi and li.

4 Roman ed. vol. ii. p. 557. Whether Hort be right in identifying the " Mother"
with the Holy Ghost, who, in the passage immediately following, is represented as
giving birth to two daughters, 1 do not venture to determine.

" Ibid. pp. 413, 554, 558.

6

INTRODUCTION.

the Mother, and the Son of the Living, they here figure as the
Father "the King of kings," the Mother "the Queen of the East,"
and the Brother "the next in rank." Finally the "lesser gods"
appear as the "kings" (couplet 38), who obey the command of the
Kins of kings. In addition to these ideas we here find others
which are not expressly ascribed to Bardesanes but are nevertheless
perfectly consistent with what we know of him. Thus the Platonic
doctrine of reminiscence (dvdfivijo-is), which is expressed with such
distinctness in the Poem (couplets 11, 55 — 57), can hardly have
been unknown to Bardesanes, who, according to Epiphanius, was
skilled in Greek as well as in Syriac1; moreover the Dialogue
written by a disciple of Bardesanes, to which I have already
referred, is so obviously modelled on the Platonic dialogues as to
imply that the works of Plato were read in the circle to which the
author belonged.

The foregoing considerations do not indeed suffice to prove
that this Poem is a Bardesanist work, but they render it at least
highly probable. Whether we have any reason to believe that it
was composed by Bardesanes himself — as Noldeke suggested,
with some hesitation, in the year 1871 — is a much more diffi-
cult question. Ephraim Syrus (Roman ed. vol. ii. pp. 553, 554)
speaks of the hymns (madhrcishe) of Bardesanes, and mentions, in
particular, a collection of 150 songs (zennratJia), after the number
of the pieces in the Psalter. In another homily (ibid. pp. 557, 558)
Ephraim professes to give a few short quotations from Bardesanes,
which appear to be in the five-syllable metre2. But since Sozomeu
and Theodoret speak of Harmonius, the son of Bardesanes, as
a writer of hymns, it has been supposed by Hort that Ephraim
may have fallen into the mistake of ascribing the works of the son
to his more celebrated father. The Poem now under discussion
contains nothing, so far as I am able to see, which might not

1 Corpus Haeresiologicum, ed. Oehler, vol. ii. pt. ii. p. 144.

2 Macke, in the Theologische Quartalschrift for 1874, p. 51, endeavours to prove
that one of the citations in question, consisting of two lines, is in the six-syllable
metre ; but to me this seems very doubtful. There is however no reason to assume
that the five-syllable metre was the only one used by Bardesanes, for Ephraim
(Roman ed. vol. ii. p. 554) expressly describes him as having introduced "measures"
(r<*A\ji.tCy.5fl), and it is by no means impossible that all these citations are
taken from the same poem.

INTRODUCTION.

7

be attributed with equal probability to either. With regard to the
important question of the date, Noldeke has remarked that the
mention of the " Parthians " (couplet 38 a), as the ruling race in
the East, decidedly favours the hypothesis that the piece was com-
posed before the overthrow of the Parthian dynasty in A.D. 224 ;
he also observes that the allusion to Maishan as a great centre of
trade (couplets 18, 70) points in the same direction.

Whatever may be the ultimate verdict of scholars as to the
exact date and authorship of this composition, it will always
deserve careful study on account of the light which it throws upon
one of the most remarkable phases in the religious history of man-
kind. Gnosticism is here displayed to us not as it appeared to its
enemies, not as a tissue of fantastic speculations, but as it was in
reality, at least to some of its adherents, a new religion. Though
the religious conceptions of the author are, in some respects, very
closely akin to those of the early Christians, he nowhere refers
directly to the New Testament, nor does he even allude to the his-
torical facts on which Christianity is fouuded1. Yet he docs not
speak doubtfully, as one feeling after truth ; his convictions, such
as they are, respecting the realities of the unseen world, rest upon
what he believes to be a direct revelation, symbolised by the
living letter "which the King sealed with his right hand." Until
this state of mind is understood, the nature of Oriental Gnosticism
and of the struggle which it long maintained, against Paganism on
the one side and traditional Christianity on the other, must remain
a mystery.

The Metre.

At the first appearance of the Poem Noldeke remarked that it
was written in verses containing, as a rule, six syllables each.
This is undoubtedly the case ; but no one, so far as I am aware,
has hitherto pointed out that the verses arc arranged in couplets.
A glance at the English translation will show that, while the first
line of a couplet is often closely connected in sense with what
follows, there is always a pause, though sometimes a slight pause

1 See the very interesting remarks on this subject by Harnack, Die Chronoloi/ie
tier altchristUcheii Litteratnr bis Emebius vol. i. p. 54G.

8

INTRODUCTION.

only, at the end of each second line. The only passages in which
this arrangement appears to be abandoned are couplets 25, 68 and
71. The first of these passages is admittedly unintelligible; in the
second, sense can be obtained only by altering the text. Accord-
ingly Wright proposes to read K\a^i (for .1^) ; but the assump-
tion of a lacuna suffices to account for the syntactical difficulty.

With regard to the number of syllables in each line, it is
impossible, in consequence of the uncertainty of the text, to give
accurate statistics. Moreover Syriac verse-writers allow them-
selves great license in the insertion and suppression of vowels. But
it will be found, on inspection, that in this Poem about 70 per
cent, of the lines consist of 6 syllables or, at least, may be made to
consist of 6 syllables by assuming some ordinary license1. In a con-
siderable number of cases (about 18 per cent.) a line seems to
consist of 7 syllables, and in some others (about 9 per cent.) of 5.
By assuming unusual licenses of pronunciation the list of excep-
tions may, of course, be reduced, but even then some cases remain
in which the normal number of 6 syllables cannot be obtained
without some change of the text, although there is no other sign
of corruption— see 18 b, 24 b, 27 b, 31 b, 35 b, 49 b, 76 a, 84 a, 86 b,
95 b (7 syllables) and 21 a, 24 a, 29 a, 47 a, 54 a, 79 a, 81 b, 89 a,
100 a (5 syllables). It will be observed that where there is one
syllable too many the line is generally the second in the couplet,
where there is one syllable too few the line is generally the first.
The only lines which, at first sight, seem to have 8 syllables are
67 a and 104 b ; one line (77 a) seems to have only 4. It is there-
fore possible that the poet was guided rather by his ear than by
a strict metrical rule in determining the exact length of each half
of a couplet.

1 By an ordinary license I mean, for example, the shortening of a'irethan to
'irethan (65 a), of ennon to non (80 a), and the lengthening of madhneha to
madhenehd (3 a), of reshim to areshim (55 a), etc.

{Asterisks indicate a supposed lacuna.)

hAAocx

(In the Translation, dots indicate that the Syriac text is corrupt
or unintelligible.)

1 When 1 was a little child,

And dwelling in my kingdom in my Father's house,

2 And in the wealth and the glories
Of my nurturers had my pleasure,

.? From the East, our home,

My parents, having equipped me, sent me forth.

4 And of the wealth of our treasury
They had already tied up for me a load,

5 Large it was, yet light,

So that I might bear it unaided —

6 Gold of ... .

And silver of Gazzak the great,

7 And rubies of India,

And agates (?) from the land of Kushan (?),

12 SV1UAC HYMN OF THE SOUL.

CO .1 r<l=3 V.wC\ S

rC-CVXr. .a CD

r K'Av* <TJ\A .xJ CuAx. K'O y

.A cn o.iax ^ ocruAjja.i

K'AuictMVi .*^a^\o 10

ax* Av»^\o

15

8« MS ^__CUitMO 9r( MS pC^CUcnv\

Ub MS cn»<k*jiva 156 MS ^A^oi.

16« MS

SYRIAC HYMX OP THE SOUL. 1

And the}' girded me with adamant
Which can crush iron.

And they took off from me the bright robe,
Which in their love they had wrought for me,
And my purple toga,

Which was measured (and) woven to my stature.
And they made a compact with me,

And wrote it in my heart that it should not be forgotten

" If thou goest down into Egypt,

And bringest the one pearl,

Which is in the midst of the sea

Hard by the loud-breathing serpent,

(Then) shalt thou put on thy bright robe

And thy toga, which is laid over it,

And with thy Brother, our next in rank,

Thou shalt be heir in our kingdom."

I quitted the East (and) went down,

There being with me two messengers,

SYRIAC HYMN OF THE SOUL.

r<**.J.T-=33 .*"i^s^.l k1=jo^

A 3.=} .2wir^A <kx^p3C\

_\cv.=) too .1 on* i

£ui£, cnv^x.rc'.i on o H x»*

&v»c\cn T-U cvi_^3 Auocd .TjjMO
&v»ocn .*i^cu ^v^st-K* a.liA

* # # pc^hT is

# # # #
^rUO nC^K' .Aa # #

&i&£\ci£. crA »»&na^r*'&i:i K'iajj

SYRIAC HYMN OF THE SOUL. If)

17 For the way was dangerous and difficult,
And I was very young to tread it.

18 I passed the borders of Maishan,

The meeting-place of the merchants of the East,

19 And I reached the land of Babel
And entered the walls of ... .

20 I went down into Egypt,

And my companions parted from me.

21 I betook me straight to the serpent,
Hard by his dwelling I abode,

72 (Waiting) till he should slumber and sleep,
And I could take my pearl from him.

23 And when I was single and alone,

A stranger to those with whom I dwelt,

24 One of my race, a free-born man,

From among the Easterns, I beheld there —

25 A youth fair and well favoured

* * *

26 * * * *-

* * and he came and attached himself to me.

27 And I made him my intimate,

A comrade with whom I shared my merchandise.

SYRIAC HYMN OF THE SOUL.

Av»&K' inl ^9.1 ^.uoi^jcj Kill

^jnorA*.n c^%\*kA &\»A£o
wiJoi.TZ. jcaaK' axA^i

A-V OXuO cuL\j jcrararc'

i\jkau ^.i^A jlA^.i
o^*T2k .0.10 rtlAsxi

SYRIAC HYMN OF THE SOUL. 17

28 T warned him against the Egyptians

Anrl against consorting with the unclean ;
-29 And I put on a garb like theirs,

Lest they should insult (?) me because T had come from afar,

30 To take away the pearl,

And (lest) they should arouse the serpent against me.

31 But in some way or other

They perceived that I was not their countryman ;

32 So they dealt with me treacherously,
Moreover they gave me their food to eat.

33 I forgot that I was a son of kings,
And I served their king;

34 And I forgot the pearl,

For which my parents had sent me,

35 And by reason of the burden of their . . .
I lay in a deep sleep.

36 But all these things that befel me

My parents perceived and were grieved for me;

37 And a proclamation Avas made in our kingdom,
That all should speed to our gate,

38 Kings and princes of Parthia
And all the nobles of the East.

B. H. S. -

SYRIAC HYMN OF THE SOUL.

wi-soirf cri=3 cosox. r 1 A^o

r&xiXsn ^.IijjK* v^arfo

t.i^»=.t — i=
v\Avix- ^ -ocoo r .ma 1

K'iul^isol en* i err*.
40* MS rdiaicri 43" MS

SYRIAC HYMN OF THE SOUL. 19

39 So they wove a plan on my behalf,
That I might not be left in Egypt,

40 And they wrote to me a letter,

And every noble signed his name thereto :

41 "From thy Father, the King of kings,
And thy Mother, the mistress of the East,

42 And from thy Brother, our next in rank,

To thee our son, who art in Egypt, greeting !

43 Up and arise from thy sleep,

And listen to the words of our letter !

44 Call to mind that thou art a son of kings !
See the slavery — whom thou servest !

45 Remember the pearl

For which thou didst speed to Egypt !

46 Think of thy bright robe,

And remember thy glorious toga,

47 Which thou shalt put on as thine adornment,

When thy name hath been read out in the list of the valiant,

48 And with thy Brother, our . . .
Thou shalt be . . . in our kingdom."

2—2

20 SYRIAC HYMN OF THE SOUL.

_» on r<*^\T^*T^ ^^T^^r^o 49

K'ix.J i\ 05*3.1= £vjil& 51

cn^vx^i ArAcx ctAjA. 53

cn i\ax J o cn iA ai. 5 4

tiAJLl .x2l!=) .1 OCT) A.!k.C\ 55

K'cVui^i^a^ &\.lon^. 57

fi2* co\ («Vi) MS 54" MS craAvA

SYRIAC HYMN OF THE SOUL. 21

49 And my letter (was) a letter

Which the King sealed with his right hand,

=o (To keep it) from the wicked ones, the children of Babel,
And from the savage demons of . . .

51 It flew in the likeness of an eagle,
The king of all birds ;

52 It flew and alighted beside me,
And became all speech.

53 At its voice and the sound of its rustling,
I started and arose from my sleep.

54 I took it up and kissed it,

And loosed its seal (?), (and) read ;

55 And according to what was traced on my heart
Were the words of my letter written.

56 I remembered that I was a son of kings,
And my free soul longed for its natural state.

57 I remembered the pearl,

For which I had been sent to Egypt,

58 And I began to charm him,

The terrible loud-breathing serpent.

SYRIAC HYMN OF THE SOUL.

cn^vn.\T.r<,o cocWsiaJK' 59

^.li i i cnJMx.o 60

K'Avu\Ju'5'ii cniv^uo 61

KV£i«^a •^J^ orax. C\_3l\ o 62

rr«'A>p<\l1 ~»Av»:iV»A cncV^icha 63
rtUu.ita .^Jtazs.'i r^icoaA

cVuj.^x.n?' rd.uior<l=3 a.'M.To

r^i=»a») .A cm an 0.1=3 ao^t

^^axiAflfln rrel»ix-.in 66
rci^i&sa <T)ic\jjL=3 i33^fl

orach o~».icn=3 0 colas o 67
Klaala .*£\o..=ucni po^

59" MS „cncd^. reaper 63« MS K^n^l

65° MS _ ^ii.^.K' 66" MS orig. r^WL.i

SYR1AC HYMN OF THE SOUL. 23

59 I hushed him to sleep and lulled him into slumber,
For my Father's name I named over him,

60 And the name of our next in rank,

And of my Mother, the queen of the East;

61 And I snatched away the pearl,

And turned to go back to my Father's house.

62 And their filthy and unclean garb

I stripped off, and left it in their country,

63 And I took my way straight to come
To the light of our home, the East.

64 And my letter, my awakener,

I found before me on the road,

65 And as with its voice it had awakened me.
(So) too with its light it was leading me

66

Shone before me with its form,
67 And with its voice and its guidance

It also encouraged me to speed,

24 SYRIAC HYMN OF THE SOUL.

# * # #68

J^CUaiflal cn&is**. Avnai 69

K'Avai ^CiSsA &u\^73CV 70

rdrjiKj. r<lsa»:i era ins. =3,1 71

■Si- % % #

r^oio.1 K'ACTJT1 73
oboi.ix. ^casarC* ^tt&A
«^ c\cQ-»"i=D K'.'wr^lra 74

red 10 75
cb^ToK1 .Vi nflAx. 76

68b MS cnsCUiao
71° 0OT3^3.1 (sic) — the 1 is quite distinct in the MS
72° MS .*£v»\crAo marg. ~»^\CUcrav\o ~!2b MS cns.l

73" MS ^io rt&ttl 16» MS AvSO.i

SVRIAC HYMN OF THE SOUL. 25

68 * * * *

And with his (?) love was drawing me on.

69 I went forth, passed by

I left Babel on my left hand,

70 And reached Maishan the great,
The haven of the merchants,

71 That sitteth on the shore of the sea
* * * *

72 And my bright robe, which I had stripped off,
And the toga wherein it was wrapped,

73 From the heights of Hyrcania (?)
My parents sent thither,

74 By the hand of their treasurers,

Who in their faithfulness could be trusted therewith.

75 And because I remembered not its fashion —

For in my childhood I had left it in my Father's house —

76 On a sudden, as I faced it,

The garment seemed to me like a mirror of myself.

SYRIAC HYMN OF THE SOUL.

&V»V*> r.Aftl31 crA^ 77
cor) r .A cvrA 1 reliK' ^K'o

r^H^J ^^ocrA A(^o 79
.A

r^itxhvsj^sn r •> Av* 00 A 82

o%uo rcl=3 co .Tro 83

toOSn.lre'.T rel^rcl^racx 85
^aaSJ cn^vtHx. Aa^

OQ.Sq\ ^ O 86

77« MS AcUl= 776 MS AcCiA

82" MS *»^\!^cnA (sic) the o being a later addition.

SYRIAC HYMN OF THE SOUL. 27

77 I saw it all in my whole self,

Moreover I faced my whole self in (facing) it,

78 For we were two in distinction
And yet again one in one likeness.

79 And the treasurers also,

Who brought it to me, I saw in like manner,

80 That they were twain (yet) one likeness,
For one kingly sign was graven on them,

81 Of his hands that restored to ine (?)

My treasure and my wealth by means of them,

82 My bright embroidered robe,

Which with glorious colours ;

83 With gold and with beryls,
And rubies and agates (?)

84 And sardonyxes varied in colour,

It also was made ready in its home on high (?).

85 And with stones of adamant
All its seams were fastened ;

S6 And the image of the King of kings
Was depicted in full all over it,

28 SYRIAC HYMN OF THE SOUL.

otiWb.I ao^\ ck»v*»c\ 88
^cW^'i rK'cVi^.:v» n .*iLo\

ctMsatn^.i v^k'o 89

ck^dax. co^vjsklxj Xn 90

rC.iii^- V*i\ retire' oco.i 91
crA.i

a.3 <K.»0!X) Jt_^i_5?3 r^liK* AK'O 92

r<Li.a.isb anxovact 93
r^.s.^ ^\x_=73 .*Aia\ ca\a^.

miSQoaj.i rc*."V» rC A^_o 94
caAia.x.K'.l v^K' r^-ra CO T <3\fia_rzj

.A AnCc\ 95
era Azxjd r^o cri2h."ic\re'A J^coirV.i

co&Aai>D AO^x.^'^K'o 96

87" MS Anc'cv MS K'iu.i.l.

906 MS ctx»cK»jlx=S>

SYRIAO HYMN OF THE SOUL. 29

87 And like the sapphire-stone also
Were its manifold hues.

88 Again I saw that all over it

The motions of knowledge were stirring,

89 And as if to speak

T saw it also making itself ready.

90 I heard the sound of its tones,

Which it uttered to those who brought it down (?)

91 Saying, "I

Whom they reared for him (?) in the presence of my father,

92 And I also perceived in myself

That my stature was growing according to his labours."

93 And in its kingly motions

It was spreading itself out towards me,

94 And in the hands of its givers

It hastened that I might take it.

95 And me too my love urged on

That 1 should run to meet it and receive it,

96 And I stretched forth and received it,

With the beauty of its colours I adorned myself.

SYRIAC HYMN OF THE SOUL.

^u.ix.'A^K'o ens

crA ^.T^floo
cni nr. r.A.in .asK*."! cncv»il

.j.io&ix.k'.i a a? ,2k iVd

^\^L»j&r<' .4>cracv.i=jioi

rtlflo 01.1.1 rK*\ mo
^Mjoje so oil ocoayla Aa^
.3Q^ r^L^-i^Ai ....lo^vx.K'a
i-^Avx.K' caJsa^h. rcl^iib v>^r».l

MS co\aX ail*. 996 MS

SYRIAC HYMN OF THE SOUL. 31

97 And my toga of brilliant colours

I cast around me, in its whole breadth.

98 I clothed myself therewith, and ascended
To the gate of salutation and homage ;

99 I bowed my head, and did homage

To the Majesty of my Father who had sent it to ine,

100 For I had done his commandments,
And he too had done what he promised,

101 And at the gate of his princes
I mingled with his nobles ;

102 For he rejoiced in me and received me,
And I was with him in his kingdom.

103 And with the voice of . . .
All his servants glorify him.

104 And he promised that also to the gate

Of the King of kings I should speed with him,

105 And bringing my gift and my pearl

I should appear with him before our King.

NOTES.

2 b *x\ *?3 lit. " caused to rest," hence " made to enjoy," cf. the
use of KLjjmJ " rest " for " enjoyment."

3 a The word f<*A\i» "home," derived from the Assyrian
rriatu "land," occurs thrice in this poem, but is very rare in other
Syriac writings.

n 7 P >

3 6 aao\ lit. " gave me provision (K\iGt) for the journey."

7 7

4 6 Wright supposed Ta^K* to be a mistake for oi a frK'
"they took abundantly" (lit. "they made abundant"). Ndldeke

7

suggests that iaAK' is here the longer form of iaA. In Syriac
usually means "perhaps," but, like the Jewish Aramaic
^2!2, it may also mean "already," and thus sometimes corresponds
in meaning to the Arabic Compare the Mandaitic or

"IXIlSy " already " (Noldeke, Mandaische Grammatik p. 202).

6 a If the MS reading be correct, we must render " gold of
the land of the upper ones." In the Syriac translation of 1 Mace,
iii. 37, vi. 1 K'AvA^. K'^v^-iK' "the upper lands" are the moun-
tainous regions of Media and Persia, as contrasted with the low-
lying plains of Babylonia. Perhaps r^AiL Avxa may be a poetical
variation of the same phrase. Noldeke proposes to read &U9
rtlAii^ " the land of the Geli " — see the Dialogue on Fate in
Cureton's Spicilegium Syriacvm, p. .%* of the Syriac text, last line,
p. 19 of the English translation. The Geli (pi TrjXot) were a
people who inhabited the district now called Gilan, on the south-
western shore of the Caspian.

NOTES. 33

G b Gazzak or Ganzak, the Ya^ana of Strabo, the pT33 or
pTJ^ of the Talmud, now called Takht-i-Sulaiman, was a locality
in Atropatene (Adharbaijan) containing a famous Zoroastrian
temple — see Noldeke's Tabarl (Leyden, 1879) p. 100 note 1, and
Georg Hoffmann's Ausziige aus syrischen Akten jiersisclier Mar-
tyrer (Leipsic, 1880) pp. 250—253.

7b "Agates" — so Wright, cf. couplet 83 6. But elsewhere
the word r£2kA\oi\^ seems to mean some kind of textile fabric.
On ^ato Aus Wright remarks, " Perhaps ,jlwlS Kcishan, in Persia,
N. of Ispahan. In Cureton's Sjricil. Syr., p. coj, the rtlxixc are
mentioned as a Bactrian tribe." Noldeke identifies the rtlxixn
with the people called o^^=» i11 Tabarl (ed. De Goeje, i. 820 1.1)
and thinks that these are here meant by the poet.

9 a Instead of K^cv-Acm other parts of the poem have
r^&v»cn\ (couplets 14 a, 46 a, 82 a) — in 72 a the scribe carelessly
writes *»&v»\gg1ci for ..» on \\ o , and the correction -»^CV.*cn\\o
appears in the margin. In 82 a we find a similar correction.
Thus it would seem that everywhere K'Av-.cm is the original
form, and K^cucnt a scribe's emendation. This view is con-
firmed by the fact that r?bi*ca\, used substantially, is peculiar
to this poem, whereas K^cucm occurs elsewhere, though only
in the abstract sense of " brightness."

10a r^i^a^ "toga" is throughout the poem construed as
a masculine noun.

12 a Wright suggests that for ^_r<^c\ "and if..." we should

read r<\l "saying, If..." But it is also possible that one or

more couplets have fallen out before 12 a, and I have therefore
retained the reading of the MS.

12 6 ax»Av*A>a, for ax»^u>^o, is a conjecture of Noldeke's,
accepted by Wright. The word K'^vxi^iio "pearl," as Noldeke
K. H. S. 3

84 SYRTAO HYMN OF THE SOUL.

has observed, may have been pronounced marr/enTthu (or marec/h-
mtha) by the poet, not marqtimtha (as in ordinary Syriac).

13 b It is unnecessary to assume, with Lipsius, that the text
is here corrupt: i.Tw prop, "round about" occurs again, in 216,
with the vaguer sense of " near." r^mao "loud-breathing" (so
Wright) — this use of a participial form as an epithet is very rare
in Syriac (see Noldeke's Syrische Grammatik § 282, second para-
graph). The verb jisso means not only "to breathe" but also "to
suck " and " to smell." Payne Smith, in his Thesaurus (s.v. jaCVflo,
jxbo) translates rdm£9 Kl»cu> by " serpens venenum spiralis,"

14 6 "Which is laid over it" (so Noldeke). Wright's trans-
lation "with which (thou art) contented" would require the
insertion of Auk*, as Wright himself admits. For the sense,
cf. 12 b.

7

16 a i^c. properly means " to throw away, cast forth " (in
Jewish Aramaic is "to shed" tears), and hence it is applied
to setting an object on fire (cf. the Hebr. PlW). The

meaning " to leave," which we find here, is very rare. For the
use of the reflexive form, see 37 b, 45 b.

p p 7

16 6 r<ifioi-2i (also written r^Lxuai^, S. Ephraemi Syri
Opera omnia, Roman ed. vol. i. p. 415 d) is the Persian pamuanak
" messenger," " courier," which the Arabs have borrowed in the

O J

form c^lP-

18 a Maishan (Gr. Meanjvq, Arab. Maisan) is a district near
the month of the Euphrates and Tigris. During the Parthian
supremacy Maishan formed a separate, though more or less de-
pendent, kingdom (see Noldeke's Tab art p. 13, note 5).

19 b No place called -^aaiao is known to have existed, yet
the name occurs thrice in the poem (19 b, r>0 b, 69 a). The men-
tion of city-walls (shiire), as well as the fact that ^ccaiflo is

NOTES. .35

coupled with Maishan and Babel, makes it impossible to suppose
that the poet is alluding to some obscure village, and we are
therefore forced to assume either that he called some well-known
city by a name of his own devising, or else that the text is corrupt.
The latter hypothesis is decidedly the more probable. Noldeke,
in 1871, suggested that we should read Afloiaa Borsippa, which
is graphically very plausible ; but Borsippa lay immediately to
the south-west of Babylon, whereas the context here requires a
place on the way from Babylon to Egypt. Accordingly Noldeke
is now disposed to prefer Mabbogh (Syr. ^ojajso, Arab, ^t^),
i.e. Hierapolis in Northern Syria. The objection, urged by Wright,
that Mabbogh is too far to the North, does not seem to be con-
clusive, for although it was possible to travel from Babylonia to
Egypt by a more southern route, the northern route was the
easier and probably the more usual one.

216 r^va.x.rx' " dwelling" is the Persian aspanzh or aspanj
(mod. Pers. sipanj), which properly means "a lodging-place for
travellers." The Syriac word should probably be pronounced
ashpazzti.

23 b I have here adopted the interpretation of Lipsius (" den
Mitgenossen meines Aufenthalts ") ; Wright translates "to my
family."

25 b What r^L*xr^h irs means it is impossible to say. Wright
translates, though with great hesitation, "a son of oil-sellers,"

•n e 7 7

pronouncing jjlT *m \s ; Lipsius, on the other hand, proposes
r^xT'a is "a son of anointing" and compares the phrase
"VTCTl in Zech. iv. 14. But the dislocation of the metre shows
that there is here a lacuna, and conjectures are therefore hopeless.

2!) b If the MS reading be correct, ^lioikxJ r£l^i (Pael)
would seem to mean " lest they should disgrace (insult) me." But

36 SYRIAC HYMX OF THE SOUL.

perhaps Noldeke is right in reading .xiiovu (Aphel, from the
root T^i), i.e. "lest they should recognise me, that I...." \s*r<
is originally " to scrutinize," and hence in ordinary Syriac (e.g.
Land, Anecdota Syriaca vol. i. 67 1. 20, 68 1. 1) means "to re-
pudiate"; but in Jewish Aramaic and in the Christian Palestinian
dialect it means " to recognise " (Hebr. *V3n ).

31 a Instead of T^.T»n^lao we should expect .*co.i p^.tirf.roo

(Noldeke).

35 a ^__oca».^,i cv^ would mean ' their troubles, vexations."
Noldeke suggests ^ocai^oi^ " their foods," Gr. rpo<f>aL

40 b Both syntax and metre require .si (as Noldeke emends)
instead of ndiraioH ; the mistake is easily explained by A^o
•Airjio-i in 38 b.

43a .U (from the root .l.ll) would mean "shrink," and we
are therefore justified in reading .icv.1, with Noldeke.

48 a A comparison with 15 a, 42 a and 60 a seems to prove

o t> y

that r<ln_»i:*-^^ is nearly equivalent in meaning to Kll*!^
"next in rank." The word, as Wright observes, should pro-
perly be spelt with .^instead of .2*-, for in the Syriac translation
of Eusebius' Theophania (ed. Lee, Bk. ii. § 19 I, 4) we find
rtla^'i-^j^-Sk, apparently meaning "rulers" or "chiefs." This
term is not known to occur elsewhere, and its origin is altogether
obscure.

48 6 cnzm. "with him" can hardly be right. The analogy
of 15 6 would lead us to expect ^\©v» "heir," but as this word
could not easily be changed into caJSa^- it is perhaps more
probable that the poet wrote "a dweller" — cf. 16.

53a With cn^x-x.^j A.n "the sound of its rustling" (so
Wright), a rendering which Lipsius regards as doubtful, compare
the Peshitta 1 Kings xviii. 41 rC'iJ^.'sm reli-x-CX^i.i r<lVji

= DBton jiftn Sip.

NOTES. 37

54 6 The emendation casa^vjjA, for the strange form cn
is accepted by Niildeke.

56 6. "And my free soul (lit. my freedom) longed for its
natural state (lit. its nature)" — the verb .loA, properly "to
miss " something which one has lost (Arab. J***), is here used

t> 7

as in Ephraim's Carmina Nisibena ed. Bickell p. 10 1. 9 r<ib\c\^

7 l> 01? 9 7 0 7

.iii.irf ^__^n^ K'cn -iSrtHiw.l " Lo mine ears long for the voice
of my vine-dressers!" Wright translates "my noble birth asserted
its nature."

57 6 The reading Axi.t^vi.nc', as compared with A\i\Jkx*rc'

in the parallel passage (45 6), seems to be confirmed by 34 6.

59 6 For the Ethpeel "i^.i^r^, in the sense "to mention,"
see the examples given in Payne Smith's Thesaurus.

66 6 The text is here quite unintelligible.

68 a The first line of this couplet seems to have contained
some masculine noun to which the form .i^i , in the second line,
refers. We should therefore probably read oaraCiuo with masc.
suffix.

72 6 Since rf^cv^ is masculine (see note on 10«), we must
read ooa.i, with Noldekc.

73 a This line is doubtless corrupt in the MS. That two
places should be named would be very strange, for we can hardly
suppose that the poet meant to represent the " robe " as having
been preserved in one locality and the " toga " in another. Thus
Wright's rendering "from Ramtha and Reken " presents a serious
difficulty, quite apart from the fact that the two names cannot
be identified. I have ventured to read ^io.i refusal "from
the heights of Hyrcania." The Old Persian name of Hyrcania,

.38 SYRIAC HYMN OF THE SOUL.

which occurs in an inscription of Darius I (Spiegel, Die altper-
sischen Keilinschriften 2nd ed. p. 22), was Warkcina, of which the
modern form Gargan (Arab. JurjZtn) is merely a phonetic cor-
ruption. It is important to observe that according to Strabo
(Bk. xvi. chap. i. § 16) the Parthian kings were accustomed to
spend a part of the year in Hyrcania, and the Sasanians also
appear to have had a royal residence in that district (see Noldeke's
Tabarl p. 77). Being moreover a high mountain region Hyrcania
might naturally be chosen by the poet as the type of the heavenly
home.

76a "Faced" — both here and in 77 6 Wright translates
" received," in accordance with the use of the verb in the Peshitta,

Luke xv. 27 (orAanr^ avrov aTrekafiev). But the usual mean-

i - ' i 1

ing of Aajsr^ is "to face," "to go to meet" (Arab. J--5I), and

this seems to be more appropriate here, since it is not till 96 a

that the prince actually " receives " the garment.

76 6 Unless we assume, against all analogy, that r£ix.O^\
is here construed as feminine, we have either to substitute r^sa.i
for ^vsa.t, or else to read ^u^sa.i ndx.<xrA b\* "I

seemed to myself like the mirror of the garment." The former
alternative gives the better sense, for the idea seems to be that
the robe (conceived as a rational being) was aware that the prince
did not recognise it, and therefore made itself like him.

77 a Pead .*Acv.A.a, and in the next line .aAcvaA, with
Noldeke.

81 a The construction of this clause is not clear ; we should
expect .iJL^.i acn.i *»cno.vi'T<'.'i, as Noldeke proposes to
read. Or perhaps, as Wright suggests, we should substitute
or Avars' for -lASk.t, and render " whose hands restored."

NOTES. 30

82 h It is difficult to believe that r^^a^n is light here, as
the use of the same verb in 82 a and 82 b would be very awkward.
Possibly rCAvrj^s*) is a mistake for r^Lix'sa^n (Aphel) "shining."

83 a It seems probable that here a fresh clause begins.

84 a Whether r^o.iv» is a mistake for rt^Jo.i'iflo, or

merely another pronunciation of the same word, cannot be
determined.

84 b The word Arc' "also" presumably refers back to Oft —
8 b, where gold, rubies, agates and adamant are mentioned as part
of the equipment of the prince.

87 a Read v^K'o for AK'o (Wright).

!)0 b Instead of the meaningless m*bi±x*J3Q Wright suggests
ea.nk.vC33, which I suppose to be a misprint for oxxi£vw£a.

01« This verse and the three following are extremely obscure.
In the first place, it is not clear whether the speech uttered by
the "robe" ends at 016 or at 92b; whichever view we adopt,
some difficulties arise. The phrase [K'.ia.jL ?] K'.niijk. v»i\ "the
active in deeds " (Wright) is very suspicious. Since K'Au.cm
is elsewhere treated as feminine, we should expect A\v*it, and
for the same reason we should expect r^lx^i-sa in 02 6, if the
robe is still speaking.

91 b Instead of cnA.i Noldeke proposes " whom they

reared in the presence of my father," or perhaps " for they reared
me, etc." But as the preceding words are so doubtful I have
not ventured to change the text.

02 6 To whom does the suffix in cn oAsaiL refer? Possibly
the idea may be that the "labours" performed by the prince in
Egypt produced a corresponding effect upon the robe which he
had left behind him.

40 SYRIAC HYMN OF THE SOUL.

93 b " Spreading itself out," lit. " pouring itself." Wright
translates ^ by " over me," but this is scarcely favoured by
the context.

99 b Read ^X.l, with Wright. In the last few verses of the
poem the " Father" seems, at first sight, to be distinguished from
the " King of kings," whereas in 41 a they are identical. On the
assumption that the text is correct, the only way out of the
difficulty is to suppose, with Noldeke, that in 99b the "Majesty"
(lit. "brightness") of the Father denotes a person distinct from
the Father himself, and that the "Majesty" is the subject of the
verbs in 102 a and 104 a. In the Mandaitic writings, the very
same word (zlwci) is applied to a particular order of heavenly
beings. Whether the "Majesty" of the Father is identical with
the " next in rank," as Noldeke suggests, seems less certain.

101ft -»cnoH^fl0O "his princes" is derived, as Noldeke has
shown in his Tabar't p. 501, from the Persian waspur lit. "son of
a house," i.e. a member of one of the seven great families (called
by the Arabic historians ahlu-l-buyutat).

102a .*Av» "me" — this use of Au, though common in the
Jewish Targums, is extremely rare in Syriac. But it is not to
be regarded as a mere Hebraism, for in a Palmyrene inscription
(De Vogue, Syrie Gentrale (Paris, 1868—1877) No. 15, p. 17) Ave
read IT tftb TIK " he brought the legions hither."

103 a For r^L&a'i.n.l, which Wright gave up as hopeless,
Lipsius proposes to read Kluai.i "with the voice of the Spirit";
but it would be a less violent change to read K'-fia^o.i.T "with
the voice of praise (Soga)."

CAMBRIDGE : PRINTED BY J. AND C. F. CLAY, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.